Gensokyo Railway Series 25 (More About the Narrow Gauge Engines)
by Pergold
Summary: In the hills and mountains of Gensokyo is a small narrow gauge line. However, Jun'ya Ota receives a new funnel, Albert has an altercation with a Greek steamroller, and a new engine causes trouble.
1. Prologue

A board meeting was being held. In the room where the Scarlet Controller, Remilia Scarlet, Yukari Yakumo, Nitori Kawashiro, and the two representatives from Kappa Valley, they preferred to be called by their western sounding nicknames.

"Oh this incident at the work will never do, Blair-Chan." said one of the representatives.

"Yes indeed, Burke-Chan. You and Yukari's little stunt will never do." said the other.

"But Yukari trashed my workshop and threatened the railway!" explained Nitori.

"Is that so? Does Ms. Yakumo need another stay at Eientei?" said Burke-Chan.

"Maybe Yukari is too much of threat. Or maybe your lying." replied Blair-Chan.

"No I was-" before Nitori could finish her sentence, Yukari snored loudly.

"As I was saying. I didn't-" again, Yukari snored, louder than the previous.

Yukari Yakumo, in a fit of revenge, decided to take as many sleeping pills as her body could allow and fell asleep in the conference room. Yukari herself was a heavy sleeper and her deep medicated sleep made her hard to wake up. The Scarlet Controller removed one of Yukari's gloves and bit down on her arm. But she didn't wake up. Members of the board each tried their best to wake up Yukari. Loud noises, water, slapping, punching, even breaking her chair didn't work. At last they gave up and stuffed her into a closet and the meeting continued.

Nitori tried to explain what had happened to her and why she put Yukari in a glass cage on wheels. But still, Burke-Chan and Blair-Chan wouldn't have it. Nitori gave up and said it was Yukari's idea.

When the meeting ended, Yukari was dragged to the big station and all the engines there had to whistle as hard and loud as they could. Finally, Yukari woke up, slowly at first and remained half-asleep for the rest of the day. She went away to go home and continue sleeping. But at least she woke up.


	2. Special Funnel

It was spring in Gensokyo, it had been several months since Jun'ya Ota had his accident with the slate trucks. He had been repaired, mostly, his funnel was still cracked and leaned to the side, exposing the hole that his funnel connects to. The cool mountain air would blow down into his smokebox and gave him an uncomfortable feeling. One day, the Scarlet Controller came to visit him.

"Sir. What are you going to do about my funnel." complained Jun'ya Ota.

"Don't worry yourself, Jun'ya Ota. Your new funnel will be something special." she said.

After that, Jun'ya Ota talked endlessly about his new funnel. But the other engines teased him about it.

"How is your new funnel supposed to be special?" said Stanley one day, "I means what's more special than your crack pipe?"

The other engines laughed, except for Jun'ya Ota. The weather soon turned for the worst and washed out part of the mountain line. Ruby helped to bring workers and materials to fix the line. As they fixed the line, the weather continued to get warmer, soon the line was fixed and Jun'ya Ota's train was the first to go on it. Jun'ya Ota went on a bend, when a hard gust of air blew into him. With a loud crack, the funnel finally broke free of its base and landed on the ground. His driver brought the train to a stop and inspected the damage.

"This won't do at all, the passengers will complain of the smoke." said Jun'ya Ota's driver.

"But what are we going to do?" asked Jun'ya Ota.

His driver looked around, and soon found something to replace his funnel.

"What is that?" asked Jun'ya Ota.

"This is an old drain pipe I found. Its no funnel, but it will have to do for now." replied his driver.

The drain pipe was fitted on top of his smokebox and was fastened to his buffers and he continued on. Later when he got back to the sheds. The other engines thought it was amusing. Albert even make a little song about it.

"Jun'ya Ota said again and again, his new funnel will put ours to shame. He went into an air channel: lost his old funnel. Now his famous new funnel's a drain!"

Several days passed before the Scarlet Controller and Nitori Kawashiro presented his new funnel.

"It looks squashed!" said Jun'ya Ota.

"No it isn't." replied Nitori.

"It's what I call, the Kawashiro Ejector." she continued, "It helps with the flow of air in your smokebox."

Nitori Kawashiro installed the new funneling system whilst the Scarlet Controller watched with slight interest.

Jun'ya Ota's new funnel makes work easy for him. He says that he feels he has more energy and makes pulling trains less tiring. The other engines don't tease him about his funnel anymore, in fact, they wish they had one just like him.


	3. Rock 'n' Roll

One day, Jun'ya Ota was talking to Ruby, the maintenance diesel, about what had happened when Jun'ya Ota was sent away to be mended after his accident with the slate trucks.

"Well, while your gone. There was another engine brought to this railway. His name is Kirby." said Ruby.

"Who's Kirby?" asked Jun'ya Ota.

"He came as a spare engine after your accident."

"Is he useful?"

"He'll pull anything, and I'm sure he means well, but he's bouncy and rude. He used to work in a factory outside from Gensokyo and his language is often...strong."

"I understand." said Jun'ya Ota gravely. "So? What else?"

"Some youkai messed about with the track on the loop line. Its safe to go over, but not at high speeds." said Ruby.

Later that day, Kirby was going to take an excursion train to the Forest Hault on the loop line.

"Go easy on the track, Kirby." warned Ruby.

"Forget about it! I know, you damned diesel." said Kirby rudely.

"Don't say I warned you." replied Ruby.

"Stuff and nonsense you bleeding boob." and with that, Kirby left.

Kirby took his coaches and came to the station at the Moriya Shrine, that where he met Akemi.

"I try to mind my own business and that rusty renob rust bucket Ruby tells me what to do!" complained Kirby.

"That reminds me the time Ahiru-I mean, me. The time I sent a diesel packing!" lied Akemi.

"I like that. I show that Ruby what for! That's what she gets for telling me what to do." replied Kirby.

Kirby didn't know this as he was too new and didn't know Akemi all that too well. Akemi was known for bragging about himself and sometimes lied about himself.

As Kirby reached the damaged loop line, he became reckless and he rocked and rolled along the line.

"Steady!" said his driver.

"I'll show that diesel what a miserable c-" suddenly, Kirby derailed, having run over the bad bit of track.

"Ah, crap." grumbled Kirby.

However back at the yards, Ruby's driver was trying her best to get her to save Kirby.

"But he offended me! All he says are rude words and I won't help." Ruby said.

"But what about the passengers?" asked Stanley.

"What about the passengers?" replied Ruby.

"They'll become stranded on the line! Besides, defenseless humans out in the open in the wilderness like that, might get killed by some hungry youkai."

"Ugh! Fine, I'll do it."

Kirby was given a stern talking to from his driver and firewoman, and he felt silly for what he did. He soon heard Ruby's horn.

"Oh no." thought Kirby, "What is she going to do with me?"

"We're here to get you back on the rails!" called out Ruby.

Some workers came out of a coach and used metal rods to lever Kirby back onto the rails. After that, Kirby was much more careful for the rest of the day. That evening in the sheds, Kirby talked to Ruby.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you." said Kirby.

"Thank you for apologizing." replied Ruby.

"Can we be friends?"

"Sure, and I'll even repair that bad bit of track on the loop line. Starting tomorrow."


	4. Steamroller

Albert, was a 0-4-0T. But because of his size and wheel arrangement, he would bounce around and sometimes fell in between the rails. So he was given special trailing wheels with board tyres to help him keep to the track. But the other engines would tease him for his new wheels.

"Look!" called out Kirby, "He's got steamroller wheels!"

But Jun'ya Ota felt bad and had a conversation with Albert.

"When I got my new funnel, the other engines teased me about. Until they realized how fruitful it was." said Jun'ya Ota.

"Yeah, I'll show them. I can go faster than all of you and those other engines." said Albert.

Stanley barged in, "Don't brag about your new wheels, or you'll end up like Agamemnon."

"Who's Agamemnon?" asked Albert.

"He's a new steamroller from Greece, and he doesn't like the railway all that much." said Stanley.

Then, from across the yard, they heard him.

"Rip up the _sidirotrochies_! Turn them into _Dromous_! The railways are no good! Turn them into _Dromous_!" Agamemnon yelled.

"Don't worry, I'll soon send him packing." said Albert.

Later that day, Albert was pulling a train and stopped at a crossing, that's when he met Agamemnon.

"Huh! So I suppose your Albert!" said Agamemnon.

Albert was taking no nonsense from a steamroller, "So I supoose your Agamemnon? Yes, I heard of you."

"And I heard of you! You swank around with your steamroller wheels thinking your as good as me!"

"Actually, I'm better. Goodbye!" and with that, Albert left.

Agamemnon, chuffed on, fuming. Later that day, Albert was bringing a special train after he finished with his last and was pulling it beside a line of track that ran beside a road used by the kappa. When the line was built, there was little room for those on the track and those on the road. Once Albert got onto this bit of line, he saw Agamemnon puffing home. Albert tried to get his attention by whistling loudly, Agamemnon took no notice and there was barely any room to pass. The two continued to whistle at each other and Albert was getting angry.

"Get out of the way you big clumsy roadhog!" said Albert.

"I don't move for imitation steamrollers, you _kariolis_!" replied Agamemnon, "You don't own the road, get out of my way!"

But there was trouble, Agamemnon ran into Albert's train and scuffed up one of the vans and derailed a wagon. Albert stopped, "Ah!" he cried, "This was your fault!"

"It wasn't me! It was your's!" replied Agamemnon.

The steamroller's driver and the engine's crew argued relentlessly about who was to blame and the group of kappas were about to reach for their spell cards, when they heard. Until the Moriya Shrine maiden, Sanae Kochiya came by and broke up the fight.

"Hello, hello, hello. What do we have here." she said omniously.

The arguing stopped, and a work crew was called and they cleaned up the mess. They worked hard to rerail the derailed truck and after they were done, a fence was erected to separate the road from the rails. Then they went away, taking Agamemnon with them. Albert thought he made Agamemnon go away. When he got back to the sheds, he talked endlessly about his adventure with the steamroller.

"Oh dear." said Stanley, "He's worse than ever. I'm sorry my plan didn't work."

"Don't worry." said Ruby, "We'll think of something."

But they didn't need to think up of anything, as a group of fairies and small youkai came to see Albert. They all pointed at him and said, "This is Albert and he tried to race a steamroller, but the steamroller nearly beat him."

Albert never talks about steamrollers ever again.


	5. Passengers and Polish

A young kappa was just about finished polishing Stanley, the narrow gauge railway's number one. Stanley would tell the young kappa stories about the Mid Sodor Railway and his time on it, as either an engine, a generator, or as a pumping engine.

"Oh do tell me another story about that Duke engine." said the young kappa.

"I will, but could you polish me again. I'll tell you it when your doing it." replied Stanley.

Kirby was in the shed as well, and overheard the two, "Can I have a polish as well?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't think I have any time left. I'm supposed to be working an apprenticeship at one of the workshops, I'm going to help the _Yakitori_ lady by building her a new portable stall with an automatic grill."

The young kappa left and Kirby was cross.

"Jun'ya Ota gets a new funnel! Albert has special wheels! And passengers get _yakitori_ and don't even get polished!" complained Kirby.

His driver entered the shed, "Jun'ya Ota's train derailed, we need to go and help them." she said.

Kirby brought workers to rerail the the coaches, and he took the coaches that were still on the rails away. He grumbled as he shunted his train and he grumbled still when he pulled the passengers away. Kirby sulked about doing extra work. His driver noticed that he was making the journey difficult and the driver needed to build up more steam, so she decided to stop the train temporarily. But no matter what, no steam could be built up.

"C'mon Kirby! We need more steam to finish our journey." the driver said.

"Not if I can do anything about it!" grumbled Kirby.

Finally, his driver got him going again and he continued until they got to a bridge and that's when Kirby decided to stall.

"What's the matter Kirby?" asked his driver.

"I'm not continuing until I get polished!"

"We need to finish our trip first!" retorted his driver.

"Eat my sandbox!" said Kirby, rudely.

Kirby didn't move until Stanley came to take him and his passengers home. When they got to the station at the Moriya Shrine, people complained about how bad the railway was. They all demanded refunds, but the Moriya Shrine miko, who was also the stationmaster for the day, said otherwise. That evening, Kirby was in the sheds sulking to himself, when the Scarlet Controller came to see him.

"What were you doing? Stalling on the line like that?! All for what! Just to look shiny! You do realize that no passengers means no polish!" she said.

"No polish means no passengers." retorted Kirby, but he said it under his breath.

Kirby still has a lot to learn, doesn't he?


	6. Epilogue

Burke-Chan and Blair-Chan were meeting with the Scarlet Controller one day. She usually isn't in her office at the big station as she rather liked to be home, but she had obligations and at best they interested her as these meetings killed time, time out of her immortal life. However, this meeting had particularly interested as it taught her more about business life, more than she ever hoped to see. She saw charts, she heard terminology she never even heard of, she even saw a sheet of paper covered with a grid of little boxes with words and numbers in them, they were called spreadsheets.

She looked quizzically to the two kappa bureaucrats as they talked, that is until they mentioned something about Gensokyo Railway's inspiration.

"Me and Blair-Chan have mulled it around, right Blair-Chan?"

"Yes, Burke-Chan, we most certainly have!"

"Of course. Me and Burke-Chan have decided to have a merger with the North Western Railway!"

Remilia Scarlet's interest peaked, "A merger? With the North Western?"

"Yes, my dear Ms. Scarlet!" said Burke-Chan.

"If we merge the two railways, we will have resources that only they have, and they'll get resources we have." said Blair-Chan.

"Like what?" asked Remilia, the Scarlet Controller.

"Like coal, ores, and ballast!" answered Burke-Chan.

"And we'll give them, kappa made machinery, spell cards, and artisan specialty goods." replied Blair-Chan.

"Well, I'll have to talk it over with Nitori and I'm not sure how Yukari feels about. I haven't even seen the North Western Railway!" said Remilia.

"Yukari agreed to help move us and one of our engines to Sodor." replied Burke-Chan.

"Which engine?" asked Remilia.

"We decided to go with someone small, someone economical, someone that is a model of our good railway." replied Burke-Chan.

"Someone who is recognizable, someone who defines the Gensokyo Railway." also replied Blair-Chan.

"Who is it?" said Remilia, now irriated.

"We chose Ichihiro!" said Burke-Chan.

"He'll take us to Sodor, even though its Yukari doing the work." replied Blair-chan.

"Oh good gods." said Remilia.

"What's the matter?" asked Burke-Chan.

"Nothing really." replied Remilia, "Have we got a date planned?"

"This summer I do believe, sometime after July." said Burke-Chan.

The three continued their meeting, all the while, Remilia was running combinations of the names North Western Railway and Gensokyo Railway.

"North Eastern Western Railway? North Western & Eastern Railway? Gensokyo & Sodor Railway?" all these thought popped in and out of her head until the meeting was over.

Meanwhile, Yukari planned for the whole Yakumo clan to come, since they knew what Sodor was like and she was also planning to take Yuyuko Saigayouji, her friend, as well, she also planned to take Reimu with her, mostly just to take her mind off the busy stuff.

On the other side of the world, a stout gentleman with a top hat, got a long distance telephone call.

"Yes, I'll pay for the call." he said.

"Thank you, sir. I'm connecting to our far eastern line." the operator said.

"Good lord!" thought the stout gentleman, "This is going to be one expensive call!"

"Hello?" said the other end of the line, "Is this Sir Stephen Topham Hatt?"

"Yes, this is, who I'm I speaking to?" he asked.

"I'm Remilia Scarlet, the controller of the Gensokyo Railway, some of these kappas in our company want me to ask you if you want a merger with our railway?"

Sir Stephan Topham Hatt, came from a family that made their fortune with shrewd business dealings and technical prowess, he was intrigued.

"Go on?" he said, cautiously.

"Well, we're a Japanese company and we want to show you our railway, we're bringing in one of our engines to show what we are like."

"I'm busy, up until the summer, that when-"

"Great, we plan to come to Sodor sometime after July. We'll be pleased to meet you, goodbye."

Before Sir Topham Hatt could do anything, the other line went dead.


End file.
